The Best Homemade Dips and Sauces for French Fries

As a food writer whose job is to taste pretty much anything I can get my hands on, I’m ready to make a bold and potentially delegitimizing statement: French fries are my favorite food. Nothing has ever come close to the fried potato’s crunchy-soft ratio, ability to withstand unhealthy levels of salt, versatility in shapes and sizes, and—perhaps its most important quality—option to be dipped and dunked in hundreds of sauces (not just ketchup).

In celebration of National French Fry Day (because it’s an actual holiday I wrote down in my calendar), I’ve pooled together nine simple french fry-friendly dips and sauces that you can create in your own kitchen. Whether you’re baking, frying, or microwaving leftovers, these sweet, spicy, and creamy blends are sure to elevate any fry from tried-and-true to omg-inducing amazing.

It’s an inarguable fact that honey mustard is a french fry’s best friend. And if you disagree, then french fries probably aren’t your favorite food, which means you get zero say in this matter. Get our Honey Mustard Sauce recipe.

For those who shudder at the thought of mayonnaise, adding roasted garlic and giving it a fancy name should help. In the case of french fries, it doesn’t just help, it makes them taste gourmet-level amazing. Get our Roasted Garlic Aioli recipe.

And if roasted garlic isn’t enough, add pickles, capers, scallions, and lemon juice too. May as well as add some fried seafood on the side to make it fish and chips while you’re at it. Get our Tartar Sauce recipe.

Sure, barbecue sauce tastes best on meats like pulled pork, ribs, and grilled chicken, but it also makes for a damn good fry sauce. It’s all about the complex (and completely customizable!) elements of flavor. Get our Basic Barbecue Sauce recipe.

Hot sauce alone is a bit too thin and runny to pair well with a fry (we don’t want them too soggy), but this chipotle-mustard blend’s got the perfect balance of peppery heat with a dip-worthy consistency. Get our Chipotle Mustard Hot Sauce recipe.

Spicy mayo is deserving of a spot on any list of dips and sauces because spicy mayo tastes delicious on literally anything. Seriously, just yesterday I sliced and dipped a Granny Smith apple in it and it wasn’t horrible. Get our Spicy Sesame Mayo recipe.

We all know that ketchup makes a perfectly suitable dip for any type of fry, but a curried variety ups the ante by bringing in some international flair. Wow your guests with this variation, but don’t tell them how easy it is to make. (And for a different take, try adding harissa instead of the curry powder.) Get our Curried Ketchup recipe.

I never use ranch in everyday life. In fact, I am Team Blue Cheese when I order buffalo wings. But there’s something about ranch’s creaminess and sweetness that aligns seamlessly with fries’ saltiness. And that’s what we call side dish perfection. Get our Basic Ranch Dressing recipe.